DRIVE-AB issues final report on its research-based suggestions for driving antibiotic development while ensuring access and sustainable use. For news release, click here. The full report and the executive summary are available here.       ...

The final DRIVE-AB conference, “Revitalizing the antibiotic pipeline: Stimulating innovation while driving sustainable use and global access”, was held at the Crowne Plaza Le Palace in Brussels, Belgium, on 5-6 September 2017. The conference attracted approximately 200 participants from a wide range of stakeholder groups, including policy-makers, medical professionals, representatives of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, civil society communities, and regulatory and public health experts. The day and a half conference was focused on the communication of the consortium’s research results and recommended options to drive investment in antibiotics that included a combination of incentive mechanisms along with finance and governance options to support their implementation. These presentations...

The speakers and panelists for the upcoming DRIVE-AB conference, Revitalizing the Antibiotic Pipeline, have now been announced. With representatives from a variety of stakeholder groups including the World Health Organization, the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and various national Ministries and Departments of Health, among others, the discussions are expected to be robust, informative, and productive. The conference will take place on 5-6 September 2017 at the Crowne Plaza in Brussels. Aimed at global policy and decision makers, regulatory and public health experts, economists and representatives of the pharmaceutical, medical and civil society communities, the purpose of the conference is to:

1. communicate the consortium’s final recommendations...

The UN Secretary-General’s Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG), whose establishment was mandated by the a UN General Assembly Resolution in 2016 calling for an ad hoc interagency coordination group to provide guidance on ensuring effective global action on AMR, is now inviting comments on the draft work plan for 2017-2019. The IACG’s first face-to-face meeting was held 2-3 May 2017 at UN Headquarters in New York. A second meeting was held by teleconference on 30 June 2017 to discuss the group’s work plan for 2017-2019. The work plan is now available on the WHO website for consultation and stakeholders...

The Duke-Margolis Centre for Health Policy in the United States has released a paper describing U.S. policy approaches that could provide better economic incentives to antimicrobial developers that successfully bring effective drugs to the market while providing a societal benefit that exceeds the cost of the incentive. The paper, "Value-based strategies for encouraging new devleopment of antimicrobial drugs", was released on 3 August with an accompanying viewpoint article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Click here to read the full paper. Click here to read the Journal of the American Medical Association article....